A Brief history of Furniture

Primitive people, like the animals, at first lived in fear and were ready to depart at the slightest hint of danger.  However, one member of the tribe was likely to be more daring and less afraid. So the others would group around him and call him king, and eventually give him a seat so that he could occupy the same central position at tribal assemblies. Hence the seat acquired great importance. As a seated person, the strongest feeling that the king inspired was confidence, and furniture, as an idea, advertises stability; that you live permanently in a place. 

The ancient druids emphasized the stability a king represents by standing him on a stone when proclaiming him. (The Stone of Scone lies under the Coronation Chair of England in Westminster Cathedral.) As community and its problems grew, the king needed advisors and thus more less splendid chairs were made for them. Then the table came about as a raised place where important affairs could be spread out before these people of authority. King Arthur's round table, university tables, or modern conference tables in austere board rooms all symbolize the seriousness of a gathering. 

Furniture was at first public, for official use. Our everyday furniture imitates this governmental furniture in its dignity, but is less rigid and more graceful and friendly. Private furniture occurs as the public group forms individual family units, and just as public furniture is an expression of the community's strength, our private furniture says much about us.  

Post 10th Century

Chests were the chief product of medieval furniture making. At the beginning of the last millenium in Europe, furniture became more common but even a wealthy household had few pieces. 

The Cupboard 

The cupboard is little more than a raised chest with doors fitted into one side. By the mid 14th century, people lived quieter lives and they moved less frequently. A chest, after all, is much like a trunk where affairs are packed away. They are put aside, however, in a cupboard to be removed conveniently without the threat of sudden departure. 

Renaissance Furniture 1490-1590

Renaissance furniture is more sophisticated in joinery and decoration than furniture of the previous era.  It often evokes a classical architectural vocabulary, as seen in the cabinet above. French pieces tend towards heavy ornamental carvings (of pagan or classical inspiration), as opposed to the inlaid or painted work prevalent in Italy.  

Furniture from 1600-1830

For the next few centuries, furniture styles in France were named after the ruling monarch. These styles correspond only approximatively to the reign of each King, often overlapping and lasting into the reign of the next ruler. Some styles, particularly in smaller towns and the countryside, remained in vogue and continued to evolve long after the style had been forgotten in Paris. 

Louis XIII (1600-1660)

The Reign of Louis XIII extended from 1610 to 1649, but this first national style occurred throughout the 17th century, lasting into the 18th century in certain parts of France. The true Louis XIII period would designate pieces of mid 17th century fabrication, and of perhaps early 18th century fabrication depending on how far one stretches the definition of "period."  The furniture is austere and geometric in appearance, often showcasing  turned spirals and balusters, architecture inspired cornices, and "diamond point" moulding, as evident in the cabinet below. 

Louis XIV (1661-1700)

From 1661 until the end of his reign in 1715, Louis XIV imposed his style on all of the arts. Just as he was the superhuman personification of the State, Louis XIV furniture was the manifestation of the power and magnificence of the Kingdom. By the 1670s, this new more fluid style broke away from the massive austerity of Louis XIII, and French influence spread throughout the continent replacing that of Italy, except for painting. Furniture materials became more diverse, curves became more prominent despite form being still very architectural, and ornamental motifs were taken from mythology, flora, fauna, and war. Before the end of his reign, circa 1700, the next more supple Régence style began to emerge. 

Régence (1700-1730)

The relatively short Régence or Regency style draws it's name specifically from the Regency of Philippe d'Orléans (1715-1723) after the death of Louis XIV. Generally speaking, the style covers the first third of the 18th century and demonstrates the giving way of the overwhelming glory of the State to something more graceful. Furniture becomes less monolithic in favor of comfort and intimacy, curves increase, and Régence pieces today still reflect the great wit and intellectual vitality of the age, of the people who invented the "sweet life."     

Louis XV (1730-1760)

Although Louis XV reigned from 1723-1774, the style emerged as distinct from Régence around 1730 and began to transform into the neoclassical Louis XVI style by the end of the 1750s. Chilly ceremonial rooms were replaced by smaller more comfortable ones as the nobility broke free of Versailles's rigidity and control. As rooms, the study, the dining room, and the library evolved and became more specialized, so did the furniture created to fill them. Rugs, wall paneling, light fixtures, artworks, knickknacks, tapestries, porcelaine, parquet, and curiosities conspired to create an exceptionally elegant and complete atmosphere. Gilded wood was used less than before, reserved for mirrors, side tables, and elaborate seating. Marquetry proliferated and a hundred different woods were used to inlay flowery and geometric patterns. 

Transitional (1750s)

King Louis XV's girlfriend, Madame de Pompadour, financed an expedition to unearth Roman ruins in Italy in 1752. The results of this and the earlier discovery of Pompeii sparked an interest in the old decorative vocabulary and rectilinear order. The transitional style demonstrates a somewhat hesitant progression towards rectilinear form, as the exuberant curves of the rococo style were replaced by neoclassicism. One sees in the chest of drawers below that the legs remain curved, but the sides are straight, and Greek friezes in greenish wood are inlaid as borders around the drawers. The bronze ornamentation has also departed from the Louis XV style, now featuring classical garlands, ribbons, vases, acanthus leaves and seeds, without become quite as ordered and symmetrical as it will during the Louis XVI period to come. 

Louis XVI (1760-1789)

At the peak of the enlightenment, much of the superfluous is stripped away except in the most expensive pieces. The daily lives of the classical scholars were revealed as Pompeii was unearthed and society yearned for a type of bygone grace and simplicity. The disorderly extravagance of the rococo style and excessive pomp of court life was swept a way for something crisper and aligned with the cult of reason which drew inspiration from ancient republics. 

Empire (1800-1815)

Despite the French Revolution, the Empire style demonstrates a return to the Louis XIV-esq use of the arts as propaganda. The use of neoclassical motifs is increased during Napoleon's reign and put to use in furniture that is massive, impressive, and imposing. These spare, sharp cornered pieces are not without beauty although solemnity and effect supersede comfort. Napoleon's strength and imperial majesty is the message intended by the secretary desk below. It's architectural form, sporting two columns capped with gilt bronze corinthian capitals, showcases the solidity and presence of the new French Empire; as grand and as long-lasting as the ancient Graeco-Roman civilizations. 

Restoration (1815-1830)

When Napoleon's crown of laurel fell for good, French furniture at first kept a massive form, but was shorn immediately and almost shamefully of all gilt bronze ornamentation. The last of the Bourbon Kings, Charles X, reigned until 1830, and he sought to restore the state of mind and elegance of the Old Regime. The Restoration style emerged as a reaction to Napoleon's pompous spectacle, but it continued the neoclassical tradition, pushing the motifs to an unparalleled summit of refinement (as evident in the Charles X period secretary below). 

An End Note

By the mid 19th century, the Victorian era and it's artistic values were in full swing. Craftsmanship waned as mechanization made furniture more readily available on the everyday market. Design suffered as anything new was more a pastiche of previous styles than it was an innovation. But above all, the trend was towards pride of ownership rather than pride of beauty, so habits of hoarding developed as people's demand for possession overcame their demand for good quality. Although many good pieces were produced in the late 19th century, and innovation returned with Art Nouveau and later styles throughout the 20th century, we feel that the period from 1600-1830 is of  greater general interest for furniture collectors. Traces of use on these pieces give the furniture a story and a life, especially when combined with knowledge of the historical contexts out of which each style sprung. The beauty of furniture from this time is unique, multilayered, and diverse, and the exquisite craftsmanship that was the rule then, is the exception today.